Latest / The Elevator Careers Podcast / From Navy Fighter Pilot to the Elevator Industry: "Make Sure Your Voice is Heard" | Erin Scott

Transcript

From Navy Fighter Pilot to the Elevator Industry: "Make Sure Your Voice is Heard" | Erin Scott · The Elevator Careers Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: But I also have been fortunate that I have just had a very strong support network and um but there are days that you definitely f feel like alone and isolated.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I think the key is finding the people who you know value you um and are there to help make build you up versus break you down and I think the key that has made me who I am is also knowing that sometimes you have to look work a little bit harder to be able to make sure that your voice is heard and not being afraid to speak up um and call people out when your voice when they don't value what you're saying to the same degree as your male counterparts at the table.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_02: Hello and welcome to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the Allred Group.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_02: I am your host, Matt Allred.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_02: In this podcast, we talk to the people whose lives and careers are dedicated to the vertical transportation industry to inform and share up with learners, building upon the foundation of those who have gone for to inspire the next generation of elevator careers.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron, welcome to the show.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Matt.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: Glad to be here today.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: I'm excited to be able to talk with you again.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's always a privilege.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: And um, it's it's fun to talk about your career.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_02: You have a pretty unique um just just background and everything.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_02: And so I'd love to have just start off with you telling us a little bit how about how you got started in the elevator industry.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um so about 15 years ago, I was coming out of uh the military and I went through Bradley Moores, which is a military um recruiting company, and I said, I did all of this stuff, you know, in the military, and how does it translate into civilian speak?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I was met with a great team there that helped me, you know, translate that, you know, uh all the stuff that I did into civilian language, and they put me with several different companies to interview with, one of which was happened to be Otis Elevator.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, oh, elevators, like, what does that even mean?
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I didn't even know, you know, what the elevator business would entail.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: And um, of all the different companies that I interviewed with, it was actually the one that I immediately fell in love with, and it truly translated, you know, the most with what I had done in, you know, in the military.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: Let's talk for just a minute about your military career.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_02: You you said, you know, you were coming out 15 years ago.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: What what what were you doing in the military?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: What was kind of your specialty?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I had uh gone to Auburn University, majored in aviation management there, and had come uh got my commission through the ROTC program and went through the flights program through um the Navy, became an F-18 pilot, did that for a few years before I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that took me out of the cockpit.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_02: So, what you're telling me though is you they could have made top gun about you.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um maybe.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it you know, I had a long way to go to get, you know, to that caliber, but um definitely was on the journey.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I remember, you know, not being able to fly anymore and then saying, you know, well, I still have a long commitment, you know, to uh my service obligation.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So now what?
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I converted over to be an aviation maintenance officer.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, poetic justice, I guess, now running squad, you know, a squadron of maintainers now fixing everything that I used to break.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so with that, it was really, you know, the same type of concept in terms of routine maintenance, you know, scheduled maintenance, but then also adapting to repairs on on the fly, no pun intended, I guess.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: But um, in terms of, you know, things break and uh how you're gonna fix it and how you're gonna Well they're high risk, right?
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, if you don't fix your airplane, if you don't maintain it, you've got a lot at stake.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: And the same with with an elevator, right?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: If somebody gets hurt, if something falls, if something um very similar in that regard.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, actually, exactly that.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, the life safety aspect, you know, of it.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And not only that, a lot of the systems and fundamentals that, you know, between, you know, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, you know, electronics, you know, all of it tied, you know, together conceptually the same way.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: So the fundamental training that I had in the aviation industry, you know, translated into, you know, the elevator industry code and all obviously had to learn that more vertical plane versus three-dimensional, but it really built the foundation.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, Bradley Morris like nailed it, you know, when they put me in front of, you know, and it could have been any of the majors, but you know, sitting there with Otis having the need, it really was like the perfect job.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: And um what what clicked for you first?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you said you fell in love.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: It almost sounds like like right from the beginning, like from the handshake on, it's like click, what what was it that really you know came together for you?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: So my husband was a federal agent, and it was hard for us, you know, starting a family um to co-locate and also make sure that somebody was always home for dinner.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: So when it we were trying to decide what was next as a family, one of us needed to hang it up.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And um, so the decision was for me to do that.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, in that transition, it was how am I gonna find a job that was still satisfying, still use the skill sets that I had built, you know, that still made me feel like I was part of that team aspect.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember sitting in, you know, the series of interviews, you know, through the you know, that process with Otis.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody that I met emphatically like smiled when they talked about like their journey through the pipeline.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: And in each interview, it was like, hi, I'm so and so, I've been here 20 years.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Then it was like progressive.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Then the next room it's like, I'm such and such, I've been here 30 years.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, even meeting people that have been there 40 and 45 years.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: So coming out of a military environment where most people, a lot of people spend 25, 30 years in that environment.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: You grow and you build, and it's a family and it's a team to see that translate into the civilian world where I just thought people bounced between jobs and that you would never find that team aspect, that family, you know, concept where everybody was kind of in it together to still win it together.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: It really just felt like home.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: And um that was just a really important aspect when I was looking for like that next chapter.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_02: What was it?
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean, I I guess just to look, you know, just kind of straight across, it almost seems like coming out of, especially with the degree in aviation uh management, I say, I think you said, and then to go into flying was was there some thoughts that, hey, I should just go straight into working for one of the airlines or an airline manufacturer or or something like that.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I looked at a lot of that too.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um for a lot of the airlines.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, maintenance is done at night.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: So that was like a another piece with the family.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um I have had big dreams of getting back into the aviation industry, but then again, it was still who's gonna be home at night, you know, to feed the kids and all, you know, so it was a tough, you know, there's now a mortality piece as you start to have children too, where before it's all about lighting my hair on fire and you know, not worrying about, you know, uh what happens at the end of the day.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: So there was a lot, you know, that had changed, you know.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, I still, you know, dabble in it, you know, from time to time, but to make it a career.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and a lot changed after 9-11 with the industry, you know, and and where like the path had charted, you know, and so um, you know, so uh I needed more of a grounded job.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I knew that I had enough like knowledge and stuff that I built in that industry to be successful, you know, and use that in anything that was still hands-on and that still served, you know, that greater public population, you know.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: So whether it's flying, you know, families from here to there or cargo from here to there, mail from here to there.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now I'm just transporting people in a different medium, you know.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: So um it's still the same kind of concept, just a little bit slower.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: Is it is it scary to to transition out of the military?
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: I imagine it's just I don't know how long you were in there, but but that's a big shift.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said, where to live, right?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: Try to co-locate with with your husband's job.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what what were some of the difficulties of that transition?
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, first learning how to get dressed every day, not, you know, not not just having somebody tell you what to wear.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but no, it was it was definitely different because, you know, first, you know, you live in an acronym world, you know, so it's breaking down the barriers of that and learning to speak, you know, civilian speak again, which I was grateful for the elevator industry to have just as many acronyms.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um and then it's also shifting the mindset of, you know, that hierarchy of you do what you're told based on rank structure.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, sometimes it's just, you know, it's a no questions ask kind of business where now you're in an environment where you're asking mechanics to go do something and they don't necessarily have to do it your way, you know, anymore because you know, it we're you know, not in that government, you know, structure and stuff.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: So there was, you know, a little bit of that, you know, mental mind shift of we work fixed hours, you know, in the civilian world where, you know, in the military you work until you know the job's done.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, there was a little bit of like that kind of transition.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: But the end of the day, um, the fundamentals, you know, were all there.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: And um the neat part too, I found in the elevator industry was everybody still felt like whether you were an apprentice with three days of experience, a mechanic with three years of experience, you know, or that seasoned adjuster with 30 years, everybody, you know, puts the same amount of effort into getting the job done.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: So um, because they understand the value of what that service that they're providing to the building, you know, means.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_02: So uh so started with Otis and they they you know, throwing your job, what was it like, like your first, you know, interaction with with a customer or or what, you know, maybe a memorable experience where you were in that in that role.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I uh started in the Boston area and um, you know, obviously didn't really look the part.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um there weren't many women in the office structure up here.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I grew up down south.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: So though I I thought I had long since lost my accent clearly to the people up here, I hadn't, you know, so they're like, she doesn't look the same, she doesn't talk the same, you know.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: And who is she, you know, telling us that there's a problem with our elevator?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, clearly she doesn't know what she's talking about.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So to then have to break down that I did have some kind of knowledge to systems and things like that, you know, and they're like, Yeah, prove it.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I can't prove it in this industry, but let me tell you what I know about hydraulics from my last like line of work.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: And you would watch their whole face like pale and be like, oh, well, maybe you do know something, you know.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it was having to really like, you know, not only talk the talk, but like kind of prove it, you know, like as, you know, like a test.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: But I was very blessed when I came here.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I was a territory manager, which means I was did both ops and sales in my first job because I was um put at a college campus.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: So very contained, very, you know, like rigid, like contract where it wasn't a lot of like sales opportunity.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you didn't need like a dedicated salesperson.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so I had six mechanics who really just took the time after they learned that my questions weren't questioning them, but it was questions that I just wanted to learn and understand the business and how elevators worked and the difference between, you know, a basic basement drum versus, you know, um, you know, like an overhead machine and why different things, you know, were set up different ways.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And once they realized it was more for my own knowledge base, they then just made it their mission to teach me all that they could to pass.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_02: Did it take a little while?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_02: Did it take a little while to to kind of build that trust?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_02: And and they're probably looking at you going, Who's this lady?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_02: And and why should we listen to her?
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it took several cups of coffee and donuts along the journey.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: And uh um, but yeah, it did.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: It took several you know, months of just building that trust that you know it was truly for my you know benefit because I couldn't be that liaison between them and the customer to interface and to talk to the customer about why something may truly take the added day or why you know we needed to upgrade a certain component if I couldn't talk about the system or um explain why it was important to the value of the building.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and once they realize that that's the piece, you know, of you know, the middleman that I needed to be that bridge for them so that I could be the umbrella or the protector of what they needed, you know, in terms of getting the job done right the first way.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um or buying that extra time, you know, of why we needed to shut down the sister car and you know, things like that.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um once, and like you said, it took several months.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: And once we broke that down, then I was in.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: But then when I moved to the next territory, which was more of a high-rise market, it started all over again.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, so then it was the same, you know, process of, you know, here I am with donuts, and you know, here come the series of new questions.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, but again, once the trust was built and once they realized that it was more just so that I could be that, you know, that gap, you know, you know, bridge that gap between them and the customer so that we could be the best, you know, resource for the riding public.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it really seeded, you know, that team aspect so we were stronger and better for it.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: And it really also cemented our role in a lot of our customer relationships too, because they knew we were very transparent and we would lay it all out on the table, you know, and um that nothing, you know, we weren't adding, you know, the numbers, you know, just you know, for added time and stuff like that.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: Well, how how long before you it really, you know, the the industry clicked and you and you were saying, yes, I made the right decision, you know, this this is gonna work for me.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: I will tell you this first that first year um was tough, you know.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I was back to feeling like, you know, drinking through, you know, out of the fire hose.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like man, I I thought I was kind of, you know, a pretty smart person there for a while.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, now I feel like I'm back in kindergarten.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I come home from work at, you know, it'd be 7:30 and I'm falling asleep on the couch.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, after the first, you know, eight or nine months, I'm like, all right, like I think I'm really gonna enjoy this.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: You know, then it started to get things started to click.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then by 18 months, I felt like I've got this.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I knew it was the right for me, but then it felt like, you know, not only was I on the bike with the training wheels, but and we had lifted the training wheels up enough that like you're like getting the balance that I felt like now we could finally take them off, you know.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: But that first, you know, for anybody and people, even you know, who had a like strong skill set to transition over, for first 18 months is rocky because it's not only are you learning the systems and and you know, no two elevators are the same, the needs of the customers are never, you know, exactly synonymous even with the building right next door, but you're also balancing the budget and you know, how do you put your labor hours in, you know, to a formula like in an office, and you're battling, you know, the service line of business against the new equipment line of business, you know.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: So there's so many dying, you know, like pieces to the puzzle that you're dealing with over the course of that, you know, first year that when one thing feels really easy, it means you're probably dropping the ball on something else, you know.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: So it does take a while.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_00: We used to call it the dance, you know.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, once you start realizing that you're not stepping on somebody's toes is really, you know, and you perfect the art of the dances when it really gets fun.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: And now, you know, you just feel like, okay, throw something else at me, you know, and let's see how we do.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's where I just felt like now it was kind of like you asked about like the transition from the aviation industry.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: It felt like a flight schedule, you know.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now you start the day, you've got a plan.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: You get excited about it, right?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, maybe you get to the end of the day with your plan, maybe you make it to lunch, maybe you don't even make it out, maybe you don't even make it through the first cup of coffee, but how do you then adapt and overcome?
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: How do you, you know, then transition and shift and still, you know, do everything you needed to do, not only for yourself, but the customer, you know, and all of that.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then how does that then shift from Monday through Friday to get to the end of the week?
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, did you get all the checks, you know, in the box?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I just I love that kind of like those challenges.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_02: Who who are some of your big mentors, especially in those rocky first months?
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, who who could you look to and say, oh my gosh, I don't know if I'm gonna get through this.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um I had um several, you know, really good mentors along my journey.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I think, you know, they're the ones that you can see, and then over time you learn that you've got like those silent like people that are advocating for you, you know, behind the scenes.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, in the beginning of my um career, I had, you know, a guy named Dan Tripp, who was a regional engineer who, you know, he just would take me out.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if it took an hour to teach me something, or if it took eight, he had the patience of an ox.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like he would just take all the time in the world and he never was too busy to answer the phone, you know, when I called for like a question.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I had this kid, you know, Bobby Campbell, and I say kid because, you know, he always points out that I'm older, but you know, we're still close to this day.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but he was on the sales side.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: So he always taught me like, you know, the power of the sale.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and so, you know, and how that ops, you know, sales alignment, you know, would work.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but then, you know, in terms of like my long term career, Dot Monaghan, she was probably my biggest.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Influencer.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: She started in the industry many years before me.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_00: But she started up in Maine as an admin clerk and just like watched what was going on in the industry and then said, I think I'd like to do that.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then went out into the field.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Back at the day, Otis had a program where you could go and shadow it as like a field apprentice, but for 18 months and then come back as a supervisor.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: So she did that to learn about the program and then worked her way all the way up to the director of field operations for the Americas until she just retired this year.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: And she was a big proponent, you know, and a big played a huge role in my career.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: But she was big into also creating a safe space for a lot of our field employees and members of the IUEC because a lot of our sisters in the field work in unions that maybe they're the only one.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it was her goal was to help, and we started an employee resource group called Forward, where we could unite and help those women network across the country where they could find other women just to at least, you know, like have as a resource and a friend.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that, you know, if they're in a union that maybe they never have, you know, don't have other women, you know, that they could just, you know, like reach out and um, you know, uh have a resource and go to training seminars together and things like that.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, and also it was a way to recruit other women into the industry because they make up less than 1% of the IUEC right now.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_02: Is it really that low?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_02: Less than one?
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Otis um uh, you know, was one of the ones that had the highest, you know, numbers, you know.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what the numbers are, you know, presently.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, it's it's not a lot.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so dot was a big resource uh for me.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Brian Fry, he was um amazing.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_00: He was an engineer who came into the field ops online.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: He never what ran a PL, but um just was really good with the numbers and um systems, and so he helped me a lot in terms of just product upgrades and things like that.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: So um, but yeah, and I think the biggest thing that they both taught me though was not only how they groomed and helped me, but how to turn around and give it back to somebody else, and always making sure that you're looking in succession planning for who's gonna come behind you and making sure that you're speaking at the table for somebody else.
• 24:57
  unknown: Right.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, you uh you spoke a little bit about you know the women and the group and the networking.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: And what is it like, you know, being a woman in a male-dominated industry, especially like you say, to be less than 1%, and to um, you know, what was I guess the most difficult thing about that?
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um for me, um how I've always known it.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, it you know, I thought it was normal um for most people, like you know, because but that's how it started, you know, in the military, you know.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_00: So but I also have been fortunate that I have just had a very strong support network.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but there are days that you definitely feel like alone and isolated.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think the key is finding the people who you know value you um and are there to help make build you up versus break you down.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I think the key that has made me who I am is also knowing that sometimes you have to look work a little bit harder to be able to make sure that your voice is heard and not being afraid to speak up and call people out when your voice, when they don't value what you're saying to the same degree as your male counterparts at the table.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um it sounds like it might be even even extra courage, right?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Courage up and above what what might be normal.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's like, no, you gotta you gotta be even stronger to just stand up and say, no, I will be heard.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I saw it a lot, um both back and flying, you know, but also um a lot with even our customer base here, like in the Boston area, like my sales um counterparts for the most part were males.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_00: And we would walk into a business meeting and you know, they would turn to the male, you know, and be like, so can you tell me what's wrong with my elevator?
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember one guy's like, no, dude, I'm just the money guy.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't even know how an elevator works.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you have to talk to her.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: And the facilities manager was like, Wait, what?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he couldn't even fathom like what was being said, you know.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: So it's funny, like, you know, even at this day and age, with all the things that we've talked about, that like the whole concept of like unconscious bias still exists, that when you walk into a room, people just automatically assume that, you know, one way or another, you know, um the woman's gonna be the sales side, you know, and the male's gonna be, you know, on the operation side.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: So it just always, we would always get, you know, a good laugh.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I was pregnant twice, like while at Otis.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, you'd waddle in, you know, you know, with your big old belly and stuff like that.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: And people just be like, seriously, like this is a lady that like that you were talking about that's coming to fix the elevator, and you're like, yeah, that's me, you know.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: So um, you know, even pregnant, you know, you can still do your job around here these days, you know.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, um, but like I said, I've also been in situations where I've just been very blessed with the teams that have been around me, you know, and and the people, but um, and it probably just helps that I do have a stronger personality that does speak up, but not everybody, you know, in the industry's been that lucky.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I've known really smart women that haven't felt that supported, that have left, you know, and that, you know, and I hate to see that, but you know.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_02: All the more reason than to have have that that mentorship and that networking group to say, hey, it's it's okay to raise your voice.
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_02: It's okay to stand up and and be heard because your opinion does matter and what you're seeing, you know, maybe no one else is seeing it.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, it's important to to let people know.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: In a lot of those groups, it's important, you know, like people think, oh, you know, like it's a girls' club, but and it's really not.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, most of our membership in those clubs, you know, was typically 50% male because it's about having allyship, you know, and it's about having, you know, men in the group too that, you know, are willing to say, you know, what you're doing's not right, like, you know, stop and listen.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: What she said is saying, you know, has value at the table just as much as what I say as well.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so that allyship, you know, sometimes is as as as important, if not more, as just being a member, you know.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_02: So um you mentioned this in our uh previous conversation.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I wondered if you would be willing to tell me the story about the box in Boston.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_00: So um when I was a supervisor down in Boston, if you're not familiar with the city, it's a very small like geographic footprint in terms of like major at lake cities.
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: So I had 10 mechanics down there and it was all walking routes because A, if you've ever tried to park there, it's just not even worth the headache.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: But B, you know, just the time it takes, it's not even worth it.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: So um when I worked down there, I did try to get all the parts like shipped direct to the buildings that they were needed, but from time to time they would show up at our little satellite office down there.
• 30:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I remember one day that like I got a board, showed up at like our little satellite office, and I called the mechanic and I was like, hey, bud, like sorry, but your board showed up at the office.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_00: Do you want to come get it?
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_00: And he was like, Yeah, boss, sorry.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have a van.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, well, yeah, none of us do because it's walking roots.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Yeah, can't come get it.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, okay, well, I'll bring it to you.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, okay, so I waited till lunchtime.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: It was close to the summer, so it was warm for Boston.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_00: I mentioned I had been pregnant, you know, a couple times there.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was about eight months pregnant, and in Boston, there's a little park in the middle of the city, and we laugh because every day all the union mechanics from all the companies flock to the park and eat lunch together.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we call it the union meeting.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I walk through the union meeting, but I take that board, which was small.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it wasn't any bigger than probably like, you know, a half a loaf of bread, but I put it in a giant box, and I put that giant box on my stomach, you know, and waddle through the park, and it looks really like heavy.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_00: And like all these mechanics start looking like, and they're you see them like elbowing each other, you know, the Fuji guy elbows, you know, the Kone guy, you know, and you see the daisy chain down to like the Otis guys.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, my little green shirts like jump up and they're like, boss, what are you doing?
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why are you carrying that box?
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you're gonna drop the baby like right here in the park.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Oh, yeah, well, I'm carrying the board to your buddy because he wouldn't come pick it up because it accidentally got delivered, you know, to the satellite office.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, Wait, what?
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_00: Why wouldn't he pick it up?
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, because he doesn't have a van.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: And they're like, well, none of us do.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I know, and it accidentally got, you know, sent to my you know, building instead of his, and they like grabbed that box, and everybody around like heard the whole story.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_00: And by the end of the day, my little buddy like got so much flack for the fact that like, you know, you know, that he wouldn't come pick up this, you know, what they all thought was this massive part, which, you know, jokes on him, it was, you know, teeny and weighed like nothing.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_00: But my guys like grabbed that box and stormed across, you know, to his building.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, so needless to say, uh, he picked everything up that accidentally got delivered thereafter and still never received a van.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I love that.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_02: That is that is hilarious.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, to me, it shows you kind of playing their game, but but in a way that that you're like, okay, you know, uh like I said, he uh he came and got his parts that he needed to from from there on and and then on and and um just but being able to to kind of play it in a fun way, right?
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh to me it's it's just hilarious.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_02: And then see him come to your to your rescue.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, the rest of them were just horrified.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_00: And like that was early in my tenure, like in that territory, and for years after, I mean, it's still the running joke.
• 34:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if we you know the the industry, you know, is not that big.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so, and I still live in the area, so if we all have beers, you know, and bump into each other, inevitably that story comes up, and it's like legend amongst people from the other companies.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like, remember that time your boss walked across the park, you know, like pregnant, and they all still talk about it, you know, because none of the companies had bands.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like, you know, but you have to sometimes, you know, push back and you know, just make a point when they're trying to play.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_02: So awesome, awesome.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so um obviously you you made a a career change.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: What was it about a year in the last year, right?
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just about five months ago at the start of October, I made a shift.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_02: What what led you to to kind of taking that your career in a different direction?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I um I really, though I still probably bleed green if you were to like slice me open, um, I never thought that I would leave Otis.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I I love the company.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I was growing, you know, through the company.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_00: And about four or five years ago, um, another one of my mentors, Jim Cummings, had made a comment that, you know, he had passed on applying for a job because it took him a step further away from the field.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't understand what he meant until I was in this last role.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I felt further and further removed from making like affecting change and like making a difference each day.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I liked what I was doing, but it was more shifting towards just broader strategy, running numbers, you know, like looking at data and big picture stuff, which all still has value, but I wasn't solving, you know, like immediate like problems where you're like, oh, I put out a fire, you know, and like save the world today.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: And um over the summer, um, I mentioned, you know, like my husband was in law enforcement, and we had, you know, a situation with a fellow, you know, um like um law, like a fellow, one of his colleagues that, you know, just like hit close to home.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_00: And um it really put in the perspective like life and like what are we trying to get out of like life and our careers and and all.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it just was kind of the shakeup I needed to say.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: I needed to go back to being, you know, like need, you know, needed and being able to make a difference in what I do every day and feeling, you know, valued and part of the you know, the overall equation.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_00: And um ATIS was looking um, you know, for um somebody in their inspections department.
• 37:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I just decided maybe I'll take the call.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_00: And I talked to Dave Estes, you know, who was their chief people officer, and honestly, it was back to everything you asked me about how I felt when I first interviewed with like Otis.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, just that whole feeling of family and value, and you know, people staying with the company for a long time.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_00: And um I just decided to take the leap of faith.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: And um, it was a hard decision.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, it's exciting and scary, and you know, it's everything you want, but there was a whole lot of tears like in the process too.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, wait, like if this is what I want, like why am I so sad, you know, about making you know the change at the same time.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_00: But um in the end, it was right for us as a family and me and my career, and uh hopefully for ATIS um in my journey and stuff.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I started back at the start of October and uh as their chief operating officer for US inspections um and working with Chip Smith and the team over there.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_02: So very cool, very cool.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_02: So um, so looking back on these these 15 years, what would you say is one of the most uh important or significant things that you've learned while being in the elevator industry?
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_00: I think the biggest thing that I've learned is that it's okay to be humble and not always to have the answers.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a lot of big decisions that need to get made on a daily basis, you know.
• 39:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um and when you think about our industry and the decisions that need to get made, you know, it's not just about the price of, you know, do we replace the machine, do we switch it over to a mod?
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: The bigger decision is, you know, what does it mean for the writing public, but also what does it mean for what I'm asking, you know, my field guys to do because sometimes the bigger decision, you know, comes into what is the risk value that I'm putting, you know, my guys, you know, in harm's way, you know, relative to the job that I'm asking, you know, for.
• 39:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, shutting down sister cars, highway, high-rise, you know, rope jobs, overtime repairs when they work during the day, you know, so there's a life safety component, not just to what, you know, the service we provide, you know, to the riding public, but the work that goes into, you know, ensuring that everything we do to get that elevator to be compliant, you know, it, you know, is done correctly.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so for me, in assessing all of that, that humbleness of making sure that I've asked all the right questions along the way, and that I don't, when in doubt, that I, you know, go to the resources or the code book to make sure that I've dotted all the I's and crossed all the T's, I think is the biggest thing that I've learned is that it's okay to phone a friend to make sure that somebody else just like listens when you, you know, have that big decision to make to say, hey, I just want to talk this through, you know, to make sure that like I didn't miss something, you know, before I go present this or go down, you know, a certain path.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's a lot writing on each and every one of us, you know, before um we walk away.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_00: The system may be simple, you know, in terms of, you know, it goes up, it goes down, but there's a lot that can happen once those doors close.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 41:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank you.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_02: So as we get toward the end here, uh last question I want to ask is what advice would you give to somebody who's starting out brand new?
• 41:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know, maybe they're coming off a college campus or maybe they're coming out of the military like you.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_02: What would you say to them?
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_00: I would say pick a job in this industry.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you won't regret it.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then I would say just expose yourself to as much of the industry as possible.
• 41:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I went through in most of my career, well, all of my career has been on the service side.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: So didn't dabble in the new equipment or mod in any of my roles.
• 42:05
  SPEAKER_00: But whenever I had free time or capacity, I did go out with somebody in that line of business to learn more about it to understand how it fed onto my side.
• 42:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I would just say make the most of it.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like I think it's just, you know, buildings aren't going away, the industry's not going away.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I just I think that there's so much that can be gained from it.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you don't, despite what you may hear, you don't have to have family members that were already in the industry to join.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I didn't come from the normal like nepotism mold.
• 42:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I've survived it for 15 years.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't cut me out of the circle.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: So I just think um it is a great line of work, and I just think the people are amazing.
• 43:03
  SPEAKER_00: And we bounce between companies, but at the end of the day, kind of like the military, it is a very small industry, and chances are you're gonna run into your friends again, or maybe your enemies, but you know, your paths are gonna, you know, cross and stuff like that.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: But it's neat to drive down a road, you know, and look at a skyline and say, I was a part of that, you know, high-rise building, or I saved somebody, you know, out of you know, the blind voice way over here, or you know, we put in a chairlift at, you know, this veteran's home so that you know somebody returning for more like had the option, you know, to still, you know, get upstairs, you know, at their house.
• 43:47
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so there's it's just neat to know that you make a difference that in an industry that most people don't even think about.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_00: They just push the button and go.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron, thank you so much for your time today.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's a pleasure to uh to interview and and I I appreciate your yeah, you being with me.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you so much.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_00: It was a joy, and uh hopefully, you know, hopefully something I said resonates with somebody and um you know that they find as much joy in the industry as I have.
• 44:19
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_02: Well, good luck to you as you continue to to make a difference in the industry and in the world.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Matt.
• 44:27
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you for listening to the Elevator Careers Podcast, sponsored by the All Red Group, a leader in elevator industry recruiting.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_02: You can check us out online at elevatorcareers.net.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_02: Please subscribe until next time.